Kill
by shoot em dead
Summary: LG Future fic. Three years after Luke and Grace break up, their lives cross again, but will they be able to forget the past and start over? Title from Jimmy Eat World song. Ch. 3 added!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Not mine, don't sue.**

Luke sat at the bar, twirling his straw around in his drink. He stared aimlessly out the window, wondering exactly how he'd allowed his life to spiral downward so quickly. He remembered back to high school, to the last night he ever remembered being happy.

_"Grace." Luke stared into his girlfriend's eyes, and, even after all this time, was still amazed by her beauty. He leaned forward and brushed a kiss across her lips, but she didn't seem to respond. "Something wrong?"_

_"I, uh, I have to talk to you about something," she said uncomfortably, avoiding his eyes._

_"Sure. Anything. What's wrong?"_

_"Uh, well, you know how I got accepted to BC, and uh, you know, you'll still be in Arcadia." She still hadn't looked into his eyes, but Luke felt a pang in his heart. He knew where this was going, and it was the last thing he had expected._

_"Grace. We decided we'd make it work. I love you, Grace."_

_"I know, I love you too." She swallowed, gathering her strength. "It's just, you know, it's really far away, and we'll hardly ever get to see each other." Tears were forming in her eyes despite her best efforts to blink them away._

_"It's only a year, Grace. We'll make it work. I promise. We promised each other we'd make it work."_

_"I'm sorry, Luke." It was one of the first times he'd heard her use his name. "I just don't think we should do this."_

_"Grace." Tears were pouring down his face now, and he did nothing to stop them._

_"I'm sorry." She turned and walked away, not looking back, afraid to look him in the eye._

That had been the last time he'd seen her until the other day. They went to college in the same city, and Boston only was so big. It was a wonder they hadn't run into each other before. She had the same blonde hair, same leather jacket, and walked with the same attitude, as if threatening anyone who got in her way. He had tried to call her name, but nothing had come out of his mouth as he stood in the middle of the sidewalk and watched her walk away for the second time.

Now, as he stared out the window, a flash of blonde hair caught his eye once more. There she was, across the street on a park bench, reading the Boston Globe. He wanted to get up and walk to her, tell her that he still remembered her, that he still loved her. That even though it'd been three years since they last saw each other, he couldn't forget her. That even though he'd tried to move on, that he'd been on countless dates with countless girls, none of them even came close to measuring up to her.

She looked up and seemed to almost catch his eye for a second, but she looked back down at her newspaper, not realizing who was staring at her.

Luke paid the bartender and walked out of the bar. He stood on the curb, ready to cross the street, but somehow couldn't get his legs to move. He waited by the lamp post as people walked by him, waiting for something. Finally, she got up and left the park, and Luke did nothing but watch her leave. He mentally kicked himself for not following her, and returned to his dorm fighting down tears.


	2. Chapter 2

Luke reached his dorm and stormed in, slamming the door behind him. His roommate Dustin and his girlfriend Leslie were making out on his bed, which was nothing new. Luke fell onto his bed and hardly even noticed them. He closed his eyes and wanted nothing more than to fall asleep, but his mind was too worked up to allow his body to do that. He lost track of time, but eventually heard Leslie say that she had to go and walk out of the room.

"So who is she?" Dustin asked. Luke sprang up from his bed.

"What are you talking about?"

"You storm in here, don't say a word about me and Leslie, and you lay there for two hours and can't fall asleep. It doesn't take a genius to know something's up. I'm guessing girl trouble. But that's just me."

"Well, you're wrong."

"You see, the thing is Luke, you've never really been a good liar."

"That's good, considering I'm not lying," he countered.

"Always the stubborn one. Fine." Dustin crawled under his sheets and turned out light. A few minutes later, Luke finally spoke.

"Her name is Grace. We went to high school together. I thought everything was going so well. I mean, we weren't a typical couple. Nothing about Grace was ever typical. She was sister's best friend, for one. And she hated the mere idea of me doing sweet, romantic things for her. And I'm almost positive she could kick my ass if she wanted to. Yours too. She told me she was never gonna fall in love. And then a year later, she told me that she loved me. She was always so unexpected, so unconventional. And I loved everything about her, man.

"It was perfect. Or so I thought. She was a year older than me, and she got accepted into Boston University. We decided that since it was just for a year, and I'd probably be joining her in Boston 'cause I wanted to go to MIT, that we'd make it work and stay together. But then, one night, we were in the park, and totally out of the blue, she broke up with. Told me that she didn't want to do it, that it wouldn't work. She left for college the next day and I hadn't seen her since, until about a week ago.

"I walked into a Starbuck's, and I had just ordered my coffee when I was looking around, and I saw her. At first I thought I was seeing things, but then she turned around, and I knew it was her instantly. She looked so gorgeous, just like I remembered her. I wanted to go up to her, to say something, ask her why she broke my heart. I wanted to so badly, but my legs just wouldn't move. It was like they were frozen. So I got my coffee and I walked out." He paused for a second, as if mustering his courage to finish. Dustin still hadn't said a word, but for some reason Luke could tell he was listening to his every word.

"I was at a bar last night, and I saw her across the street. It was the same thing. I wanted to see her so badly. I know I still love her. I can't help it. It's why I've never been happy with any of my girlfriends since then. No matter how great they are, they never measure up to her. It's like my brain keeps telling to move on and forget about her, 'cause it'll never work. She broke my heart once, what's to stop her from doing it again, you know? But I just can't forget about her. I love her."

They laid there in silence for a few minutes. Finally, Dustin spoke.

"You gotta go after her, man."

"I know. I just, can't. I freeze every time I see her."

"Look, man. I always thought you were just weird and miserable and trapped in your own world or something. It's like you're never happy. It's kinda creepy sometimes, actually. But clearly this chick is gonna make you happy. So I say, go for it. But what do I know?"

"First of all, Grace is not a chick. And she never will be. Ever. Second of all, did you not hear everything I said? I can't talk to her."

"Luke, you are like, the dumbest genius I've ever met."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Sure it does."

"How did you get into MIT again?"

"You know, I get asked that question a lot. I dunno why…"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry it took so long, but here's Chapter 3!

* * *

**

Grace sat alone in a booth of a local diner, flipping through a menu and sipping her soda. It was her favorite diner, and she knew exactly what she was going to order before the waitress had handed her the menu. She looked up and surveyed the crowd around her. The diner was relatively busy, with a few empty tables and booths here and there. At the booth across from here there was a family with two young sons, both looking under the age of 6. They looked almost identical, one being half a head taller than the other. They both had blonde hair and glasses and were coloring on children's menus.

Just then, another blond walked by and caught her attention. She recognized him immediately but was too scared to say anything until he turned around and their eyes met. She stood up slowly and he moved hesitantly toward her. Finally, he reached her. Their eyes hadn't moved.

"Grace." It wasn't a question.

She surveyed his eyes, as if searching for something, an answer to an unasked question. She hadn't seen him to that night in the park over two years ago. In that time, she'd changed a lot. She'd matured and learned to accept people a little more. But some things didn't change, and one thing that hadn't was her love for Luke.

"Luke," she said weakly, looking away from his eyes, much in the same way she had the last time she saw him. "I, uh, haven't seen you in a while," she continued awkwardly.

"Grace!" A guy walked into the diner and called her. He was tall and well built, and had brown hair and dark eyes. He was wearing a light green dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the tie loosened, black dress pants and black dress shoes. He made his way around waitresses, tables, and customers and found his way to Luke and Grace. "Hey."

"Hey, Jeff."

He leaned in to kiss her, but she cleared her throat and turned away.

"Jeff, uh, this is Luke. Luke, Jeff, uh, boyfriend. We uh, me and Luke know each other from high school."

"Luke. Hi." Jeff reached over to shake his hand, and Luke returned the gesture coldly.

"I gotta go. I'll, um, I'll see you around Grace."

"Yeah, sure," she tried to reply, but he had already turned around and was walking away.

"What's the matter with him?" asked Jeff as they sat down.

"I dunno. Let's eat," she replied, trying to avoid the subject.

They made their way through dinner in a somewhat awkward silence. They paid the bill and walked of the diner together. As they walked down the street, Grace continued to seem melancholy and withdrawn.

"What's the matter?" asked Jeff.

"Nothing. I'm just a little tired, that's all."

Jeff looked at her, knowing there was more to it, but seemed to accept the response for now. Finally, they reached the steps of Grace's dorm.

"I have a lot of studying to do, so, uh, I'll see you tomorrow," said Grace.

"Sure thing." Jeff leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. She didn't turn away this time. "If you want to talk, about anything, you know where to find me."

"Yeah. Sure." Grace turned and Jeff watched as she unlocked the door and walked into the building. She reached her room and collapsed onto her bed, ignoring the greeting of her roommate. She fell asleep in her clothes, thinking about how she'd let Luke get away.


End file.
